Evaporating and distilling plant.



W. WEIR. EVAPORATING AND DISTILLING PLANT. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 3, 1912;.

1,079,966. Paton. 2, 1913.

m WM F'L'q wxu min Weir,

l nvento r:

WILLIAM VIEIR, or CATHCART, GLA'sGoW, sco'rLANp.

EVAPORA'IING AND DISTILLING PLANT.

i ,o'macc.

7b a vii/1.0m {I nmy concern lle it known that l,"'\Vlm;nnr Vain, a subject of the King of Great Britain and Ireland, residing at Cathcart, Glasgow, Scotland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Evaporating and .Distillingllants; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and. exact.

description of the invention.

This invention relates to evaporating and distilling plants such as are commonly employed tor the ol'itaining ott'resh water from sea water on board ship. lnstallationsot such plants may comprise one or more evaporatcrs. It is common practice for two evaporators to be arranged side by side with a single condenser placed alongside them, the condenser being of the vertical cylindri cal type with vertical tubes. The steam evaporated from the sea water in the evaporators passes from the latter through their uptakes to a common vapor pipe which is arranged above the evaporators and led down ard to the distilling condenser. The available engne room t'loor space is often very limited, especially in warships; and my invention has for its object to reduce the item-space required by an evaporating and distilling plant.

ith this object inview, .n'iy invention consists in a novel constructiim and t'Ollllll nation of elements which will be described in the following symcification and more particularly set forth in the annexed claims In the accompanying drawings :.-l. igure l is a trout elevation, parts being broken away and parts being shown in section, oi a plant according to my invention. Fig. 2 is a cross section on the line a--a of Fig. l and is drawn to a slightly larger s'ale than Fig. l. 1

u, (L are the two evaporators aranged vertically side by side, and Z1 is the condenser which latter is of the cylindrical tubular type. The shell of the condenser, at or near its two ends, is swelledas shown atc, c, and a. cylnulrical plate (Z is riveted or otherwise attached to the shell at this swelled portion so to form an annular chamber c between the plate and the shell. Each evaporator is arranged to communicate with one of these annular chambers by means of a short. coupling piece f which comn'iunicates on tllt one hand with the steam space in the evaporator and on the other hand with the annular chamber 6.,

Specification of Letters Patent.

A sluicevalve g is provided for the purpose PatentedDeo. 2, 1913 Application filed June 3, 1912. Serial No. 701,389.

of controlling the .llow of steam through; each ot ,these coupling pieces. .Perforations it are formed in the upper, portions of. the plates .15 wh ch perforations serve to ad mitto the condensing chamber 1) of the condenser the steam which uses fromthe evap orators through the coupling pieces f. and. the annular chambers e. densed. on the exterior. slu'tace of the tubes is, cold water being circulated through the,

tubes in tlie usual manner. 111; indicates the circulating water inlet and n the circulating water outlet; but; both. the 1nletand outlet may of course be at. the

same endof the condenser, the-arrangement depending on whether there isan odd or even number of water passes. v

At the bottom of the cmidenser and at or: about the center oi? its-length, a connection The steam is iconis provided for a pipe o through which the air canv be withdrawn by ,an air pump.

The employmentof steanrcontrol valve of the sluice type allows of the coupling pieces f being of short length so that the condenser b is raised very little above the tops of the evaporators ,and, as I preter t-o employ evaporators ot' a type in which the height is less than usual, the total height of the plant can be kept quite moderate and need not be much, it any, "realest-ban now usual for plants .of equal 'evaporative iapacit-y. Moreover-,as the steam admit:

ted to the condensi-i'igchamber at the top; and at the 'cnds of the latter, and as the air pump suctioiris at the 'lmttom of the" chamber and about midway between the ends, and the steam is admitted to the chamber through a large number of holes, the flow of steam over the cooling surface is fairly uniform, and the condensation is very well distributed over the cooling surface, thus allowing of the en'mloyment of a condenser of minimum cooling'surface and therefore minimum size.

The number, shape, and arrangement of the perforations may be varied as may be thought desirable. It is, however, an essential feature of my invention that the perforations are only in the upper portion of the plates at.

The steam in passing through the annular chambers e and through the perforations in the plates at tends to deposit on these plates and on the swelled portion the condenser shell, any particles of irreve ent-1i now have been carried up with it from the evaporators. Any brine so deposited drains back into the evaporators; and the arrangement and construction of a paratus according to my invention is theref dre useful in preventing or reducing the admission of salt to,

combination, a pair of evaporators arranged arranged vertically, side by side, a condenser arranged horizontally above the said evaporators, annular steamchambers arranged to surround the steam condensing chamber of said condenser, one at 'each' end of said chamber, and provided with perforations in their upper portions adapted to admit the steam to said chamber, short passages arranged to connect the two evaporators with the two annular steam chambers, each to each, and sluice valves adapted to control the flow of steam through the said short passages.

2. Inv evaporating and distilling plant, in combination, a pair of evaporators arranged vertically, side by side, a condenser horizontally above the said evaporators, annular steam chambers arranged to surround the steam condensing chamber of said condenser, one at each end of said chamber, the said annular chambers being formed between swelled parts of the condenser shell and plates perforated in their" upper portions-located within these swelled parts, short passages. arranged to connect the two evaporators with the two annular steam chambers, each to each, and sluice valves adapted to control the flow of steam 'through the said short passages.

3. In evaporating and distilling plant, in combination, a pair of evaporators arranged vertically, side by side, a condenser arranged horizontally above the said evaporators, annular steam chambers arranged to surround the steam condensing chamber of said condenser and to communicate therewith,'one at each end of said chamber, short portions adapted to admit the steam to said chamber, short passages arranged to conjnect the two evaporators with the two annularsteam chambers, each to each, sluice valves adapted to control the flow of steam ,through said short passages, and an air 5 pump suction connection at the bottom center of length of the steam condensing chamber. I

5. In evaporating and distilling plant, in

combination. a pair of evaporators arranged vertically, side by side, a condenser arranged horizontally above the said evaporators, a11- nular steam chambers arranged to surround the steam condensing chamber of said condenser, one at each end of said chamber, the

said annular chambers being formed between swelled parts of the condenser shell and plates-perforated in their upper portionslocated within these swelled parts,

short passages arranged to connect the two evaporators Wltil the two annular steam chambers, each to each, sluice valves adapt ed to control the flow of steam through the said short passages, and an air pump suction connection at the bottom and center of length of the steam condensing chamber.

- In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. WILLIAM WEIR. Witnesses:

Ronnnr MORRISON Nrunson, DAVID WATT PAGE.

provided with perforations in their upper 

